Gophers football: With Big Ten down, opportunity is knocking

Minnesota quarterback MarQueis Gray (5) looks to run past UNLV's Dre Crawford (5) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)

The Big Ten is down. Way down.

Wisconsin, Michigan State, Michigan and Nebraska entered the season with top-10 aspirations, but each has lost nonconference games. The demise of scandal-ridden Penn State already is under way. Ohio State is undefeated but not the same -- and not eligible, either.

Obviously, nobody is talking Rose Bowl for the Gophers in Year 2 under coach Jerry Kill. But an undefeated start in nonconference games and a weak year for the Big Ten makes seven or eight wins a realistic goal for Minnesota. And that could result in a fairly respectable bowl game.

But first, the Gophers need to win a big game in their Big Ten opener at Iowa (2-2) on Saturday, Sept. 29.

"If we could play a little better, then Iowa is a potential win," former Gophers All-American Bob McNamara said. "You got homecoming (after the bye week on Oct. 13) against Northwestern, you also got Purdue at home. I'm not a predictor; I can't say, 'OK, we're definitely going to win seven or eight games.' But this is probably the best team we've had recently to surprise a lot of teams."

It would be a big boost to the team if MarQueis Gray, one of the Big Ten's best athletes, returns from his ankle injury after the bye week. That would give the Gophers two good options at quarterback, with sophomore Max Shortell gaining confidence starting in Gray's absence.

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Gray also can play wide receiver.

"You lose your marquee player and your quarterback, and it doesn't slow them down at all," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said of Minnesota. "When you can play through things that would be challenging to anybody, that's really an impressive thing, and it says a lot about their players and their staff."

The biggest difference between the 2012 Gophers and recent teams is the much-improved defense. Minnesota's defense ranks third in the Big Ten in yards allowed (308) and is tied for first in interceptions (seven) and turnovers (10). And the job might be easier this season with Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin surprisingly ranked as the three worst offensive teams in the Big Ten. The Badgers and the Illini host Minnesota on Oct. 20 and Nov. 10, respectively.

The Hawkeyes already have lost two running backs this season to injury, forcing them to start walk-on fullback Mark Weisman. Iowa also doesn't have the receiving talent it had last year when quarterback James Vandenberg passed for 25 touchdowns; he's thrown one TD pass this season.

Wisconsin is so desperate on offense it benched quarterback Danny O'Brien, who followed Russell Wilson's path as an Atlantic Coast Conference transfer, and fired its new offensive line coach. And the Badgers have had concerns about Heisman Trophy candidate running back Montee Ball because of concussion issues.

It's been awhile since Iowa and Wisconsin struggled simultaneously. The Gophers haven't beaten both of their main rivals in the same season since 1989. Despite back-to-back wins over Iowa at home in the past two years, Minnesota hasn't defeated Wisconsin since 2003.

Former Gophers coach Glen Mason went 10-3 that year with the fifth-best defense in the Big Ten. The season ended with a win over Oregon in the Sun Bowl.

That was arguably Mason's best team. But the Big Ten was loaded with three top-10 teams that season: Michigan, Ohio State and Iowa. This season, Ohio State is the highest-ranked team in the Big Ten at No. 14. It is the first time since 2001 that no Big Ten team was ranked in the top 12 after four weeks, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

"Most longtime Big Ten people that don't just look at their schools but look at the aggregate conference are kind of scratching their head," Mason, a Big Ten Network analyst, said of the state of the Big Ten.

The Gophers probably wish they were in the Leaders Division, where the title race is wide open with Penn State and Ohio State facing postseason bans and Wisconsin struggling mightily. But the reality is that Minnesota is in the much-tougher Legends Division, where moving up in the pecking order seems unlikely -- down year or not.

Nebraska has the Big Ten's No. 1 offense. Michigan State has the No. 1 defense. Alabama and Notre Dame embarrassed Michigan, but one-time Heisman hopeful Denard Robinson is out to prove doubters wrong. Iowa is probably eager to do the same thing Saturday against Minnesota after last week's surprising home loss to Central Michigan.

Kill isn't ready to look at the bigger picture just yet. He remembers when his team was picked last in the Big Ten by some publications in the preseason.

"We're a young football team," he said. "So for me, we've just got to do what we've done the last four weeks. We haven't said a lot, and we've just come out and worked, practiced hard and given our best effort. If we give a little more each week, then we can hang in there and play."